Outback is one of the great figures from the post-86 period. He’s a pretty simply designed type of guy, with a basic t-shirt and camo pants. His head was where much of his personality stemmed. While there were plenty of previous Joes with facial hair, Outback sported a full-on mountain man beard. If you looked up the word rugged in
Read moreThe Kre-O GI Joe figures have been at their best because they manage to distill the essence o classic character designs into just a few basic shapes and broad paint details. Some might call it a Lego knock-off, but the line is getting a bit of its own kind of vibe as it goes along. Sure, the brick figure concept
Read moreby KansasBrawler Even though I never had it as a kid (or even knew about since this was back in the days before the Internet), I’ve always thought the Wolverine was a pretty cool Joe vehicle. Hailing from 1983, the Wolverine had a very realistic military design, yet since it was an “armored missile vehicle”, it wasn’t just another tank.
Read moreby KansasBrawler If you had told me during the 25th Anniversary line that the most fun I’d be having with the G.I. Joe line five years later would be a Hasbro in-house version of Lego, I would have stared at you in complete dumbfoundedness. While I’ve always loved Legos, I’ve never really thought licensed products and Lego go well together.
Read moreby KansasBrawler Growing up, I always loved the small Joe and Cobra vehicles. As much as I loved opening my Thunderclap when I got it for Christmas and playing with it a lot in some pretty epic battles, vehicles like the Cobra Pogo and the Joe Locust saw a lot more play time just because they were a lot simpler
Read moreby KansasBrawler While this pairing may require you to buy two sets, I was really impressed at how good the HISS Tank (from the Arashikage Dojo) set and the ASP (from the Ghoststriker X-16 set) looked when paired up. As such, I like keeping them together. Plus, on its own, I’ve never been impressed with the ASP just sitting alone,
Read moreby KansasBrawler (Author’s Note: These Kre-O reviews are going to be a little wacky. I’ve had so much fun setting these up into fun displays and actually playing with them, I don’t want to undo all that to do the reviews with what came in the box. As such, when there are non-standard figures involved or sets are split up, I’ll make a
Read moreI’ve not felt like really army building any of the Kre-O Cobras until this fellow came along. An odd thing to say, considering that Hasbro’s beautifully simple brick homage to the Real American Hero era figures has already brought several iconic Cobra troop types, from the standard “blueshirt” trooper to the Eels to the ever-popular Crimson Guard. Heck, I wasn’t
Read moreIn 2014, the year of GI Joe’s 50th anniversary, what sort of figures are being released to pay tribute to the brand’s 1960s origins? Well, none to speak of. In fact, the only homage toys celebrating the first generation of Joes, outside of a Collectors Club convention exclusive offering, are Kreons based on 1970s figures. More than a bit of
Read moreThe Kre-O love train just keeps rolling on. In the midst of so much angst about the status of the GI Joe brand, these little guys (and now gals) are tiny bricky bits of happiness. The overt cheeriness of the Lego-esque Joe world is a welcome counterpoint to all the doom, gloom and outright speculation about GI Joe’s future. Wave
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